Sony‘s TRIMASTER LCD monitors are geared for critical evaluation and broadcast video production. The newest in the ultimate BVM series is the BVM-L170. The BVM-L170 is a 17″ LCD monitor that sports some impressive specifications. First off is the LCD itself: 10-bit. Most 17″ LCD monitors sport 6-bit plus FRC and only the higher-end models have 8-bit. The 10-bit 17″ LCD panel in the BVM-L170 must be spectacular! Another feature is the 1920 x 1080 pixel format mated to a 120Hz frequency–a first I believe for a 17″ LCD monitor. The BVM-L170 supports a host of color standards including the color space that is generated by Sony’s F23 and F35 cinematography cameras. Connections are a plenty as well with HD-SDI, VGA, DVI-D and HDMI. One thing that must be mentioned is the LED backlight and the black frame insertion that allows for crisp video and an improvement in contrast.

IPS Alpha is based in Mobara City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The LCD manufacturer specializes in producing IPS (In-Plane Switching) LCD panels that are geared for LCD TV applications. The company’s IPS-Pro technology is an evolution of the base IPS core and features very high aperture ratios (1.5x compared to AS-IPS) that allow for more light to get through that leads to better contrast ratio (3x compared to AS-IPS). IPS-Pro was developed in 2004.

The AX094F002B is the largest LCD panel that IPS Alpha currently volume manufactures. It is an IPS Pro panel and sports a pixel format of 1920 x 1080, a contrast ratio of 900:1 and brightness of 500 cd/m2. Response time is a respectable 6ms and the viewing angles are excellent at 178/178. Power consumption is 120W, which is quite low for a 37″ LCD panel.Â Panasonic owns part of IPS Alpha and most of its panels end up in Panasonic’s LCD TV line.

Panasonic‘s TC-L37G1 is the largest at 37″ in the G1 series that is new for 2009. The TC-L37G1 uses a IPS LCD panel manufactured from IPS Alpha. The 37″ LCD TV features 1080p capability and a 120Hz frequency for significantly reduced motion blur. Viewing angles are excellent at 178/178.Â Although I am not 100% sure, the TC-L37G1 probably uses IPS Alpha’s AX094F002B LCD panel.

PanasonicÂ introduced 8 new LCD TVs for 2009. Some will be available in March and some in May. The TC-L37X1 is available now. The sizes range from 26″ to 37″. Kind of small? Yes, it is deliberate since Panasonic wants to focus on larger sizes (42″ and larger) with plasma technology. Here is the list of the new LCD TVs for 2009 in order of size:

TC-L26X1: 26″, 720p, May

TC-L32X1: 31.5″, 720p, March

TC-L32C12: 31.5″, 720p, May

TC-L32S1: 31.5″, IPS, 1080p, March

TC-L32G1: 31.5″, IPS, 1080p, 120Hz, May

TC-L37X1: 37″, 720p, Now, US$799.95

TC-L37S1: 37″, IPS, 1080p, March

TC-L37G1: 37″, IPS, 1080p, 120Hz, May

As you can see the series that offer the most performance is the G1 series. The G1 series sport an IPS LCD panel from IPS Alpha, 1080p capability and a 120Hz frequency. One step below the G1 series is the S1 series. The S1 series sport an IPS LCD panel from IPS Alpha and are 1080p capable but the frequency is standard fair: 60Hz. The X1 series sport 720p capability and is one step down from the S1 series.

I was just reading a crave post about Sony’s KLV-40ZX1M and the mention of edge-lit LED backlight LCDs not having a great picture got my attention. Crave ran some tests to see how the KLV-40ZX1M performed and came away a bit disappointed: “Lighter black levels and imperfect uniformity… the edges of the picture were brighter than the middle…” This will change in 2010.

A source has informed me that at least two major LCD manufacturers are working diligently to marry edge-lit LED backlights and local dimming. As you may already know local dimming allows for luminance control for different areas of the LCD and greatly improves contrast ratio. Edge-lit LED backlights allow for LCD TVs to get really thin. But as the crave article already mentioned black levels aren’t that great and neither is brightness uniformity. Continue reading →

The president of LG Electronics Japan, Gyu-hong Lee, stated in an interview with Kyodo News that the company might be exiting the plasma TV market. Market research companies have pointed to unit sales growth for plasma TVs in 2009 over 2008 but in relative terms growth will pale in comparison to LCD TVs.

Pioneer has completely exited the display market even with industry-leading technology such as its KURO PDP (Plasma Display Panel) that had the deepest black levels in the industry. Vizio is also focusing only on LCD TVs.

It isn’t surprising that another major supplier of plasma TVs might be on the verge of getting out. Who is next? Definitely not Panasonic. Samsung?

Dell has dropped the starting price of the Mini 9 by $50 to just $199. That’s for the Obsidian Black–any other color will be more expensive by at least $30.

For $199 you get a glossy 8.9″ LCD with a 1024 x 600 pixel format, perfect for casually browsing the web. Ubuntu is a lightweight (in terms of requiring system resources) Linux operating system; it isn’t for everyone.

If all you want to do is browse the web and do some light word processing and email, Ubuntu should be fine. You probably can’t do much more since you’ll be limited to just 4GB of storage space. And if you have abnormally large fingers you might want to, somehow, test the keyboard before clicking on the “Add to Cart” button.

For $199 you get a lightweight, small, net-connected machine: a great deal! Oh, you’ll need to wait until 2009.03.20 for it to ship.

There is a rumor that Amazon is developing a new Kindle, Kindle 3 perhaps, that is larger and has touch capability with EPD (Electronic Paper Display) supplier PVI (Prime View International), who is the primary supplier of the EPD that was used for the original Kindle and for the new Kindle 2. The newer, larger, touch-enabled Kindle 3 is expected to be launched by the end of 2009. PVI is based in Taiwan and has a subsidiary in Korea that it bought last year, Hydis. Most likely Hydis will be manufacturing the larger EPDs for the new Kindle 3 as PVI is accelerating the transition of larger-sized EPD production to Hydis.

Viewing Angles: 170/160 (I think Dell and therefore Engadget got it switched in the description; look at the “Tech Specs” for the correct spec.)

Webcam: 2.0MP with Integrated Microphone

Connectivity: USB 2.0, VGA, DVI-D, HDMI

Other: Energy Star

Dimensions: 20.86 x 15.63 x 7.07″

Weight: 9.92lbs

Dell Canada: The tilt-only SX2210 is Dell’s newest 22″ 1080p LCD monitor. The SX2210 sports a 1920×1080 pixel format and directly linked to that is the 16:9 aspect ratio for your HD viewing enjoyment. The ultra-fast 2ms response time will be good for both sports and gaming. Contrast ratio of 1000:1 is very good for a monitor. This 22-incher is probably using a TN (Twisted Nematic) LCD panel by the looks of the limited viewing angles: 170/160. That would be 170 horizontal and 160 vertical–the description on Dell’s page got it switched, but to Dell’s credit it shows the correct information in the “Tech Specs” tab. The SX2210 comes with a ton of connections: USB, VGA, DVI-D, HDMI. The color gamut is also a bit more than standard at 85% NTSC, most likely due to a WCG-CCFL.

The SX2210 is a fine-looking 22″ LCD monitor, especially given that it’s from Dell; Dell has come quite a ways. The fast response time of just 2ms will come in handy for viewing sports in HD as well as playing games. Need serious color work? The SX2210 is a mixed bag with a higher-than-average 85% NTSC color gamut but less-than-ideal viewing angles. Depending on the price the SX2210 can be a very good monitor for you as long as height-adjustment isn’t necessary.

Kodak’s OLED digital photo frame is probably the most expensive digital photo frame in the world. I’ve seen it and the display quality on the OLED is really really nice. It is by far the best digital photo frame in terms of image quality. But the price is quite high. Kodak introduced it with a $999 price. Then during CES 2009 the price was reduced to $858.99 (Amazon price). Thanks to OLED-Info, I was just notified that the price has dropped even more. A quick check on Amazon.com shows a price of just US$794.66. The price is lower but the Kodak OLED digital photo frame still takes the crown as the world’s most expensive digital photo frame. By far. Can we see $499 soon in the future?